1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments described herein are related to an image capture apparatus, an image capturing method and a computer readable medium containing an image capture program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various techniques have been proposed for capturing a scene of a night view and a main subject, such as a human subject, so as to enable an image to be stored in which both the night view and the main subject are distinct. For example, in the technique described in JP-A-2005-086488, flash-on image capture accompanied by flash emission and flash-off image capture not accompanied by a flash are successively performed. When doing so, the image capture sensitivity is set high during flash-off image capture so as to appropriately expose the night view.
The image obtained thereby with the flash-off image capture (the non-flash image) is an image having brightness appropriate for a night view even if the brightness of the main subject is inappropriate. The image obtained by the flash image capture (flash image) is an image having brightness appropriate for the main subject even though the brightness of the night view is inappropriate. Consequently, by combining the non-flash image with the flash image, an image can be stored in which both the night view and the main subject are distinct and both have appropriate respective brightness.
The image capture sensitivity is set high in the above technique during flash-off image capture in order for the night view to be appropriately exposed. Thermal noise is therefore generated in the image comprising the night view and main subject during flash-off image capture, namely in the non-flash image. However, the thermal noise generated in the main subject is corrected and eliminated by combination with the flash image.
Since there is, however, no correction for the thermal noise generated in regions outside of the main subject, a problem arises in that a poor quality image is still obtained with residual thermal noise.